The Children’s Home Society hosted a Candidate Meet and Greet. Amanda Chadwick organized the event. There was primarily a focus on issues relating to child welfare although most politicians returned to issues of taxes and spending. Valerie Seidel, the board chair of the Children’s Home Society of Florida, introduced the Board. There were two young girls seated in the front row near me. They were about 14 and 10 years old. These girls dressed in their Sunday best got up on stage to lead the Pledge of allegiance.
Candidates could only speak for three minutes each so sketching was a challenge. I drew Valerie at the podium. One candidate had actually been in foster care before. After all the speeches, there was a twenty minute break with snacks before school board candidates got up to speak. As everyone got food, I was throwing down watercolor washes. As I worked, one of the little girls sat next to me asking questions. It turns out she lives next to Bernie who is an artist that holds open studio sessions in his home. I have been there a number of times. The girls name was Catherine and I soon realized that she and her sister were pictured on a poster at the front of the room. The pair are shown seated on the grass wearing purple and pink princess costumes. The sisters were adopted by Greg and Valerie through CHS of Florida. on the poster Catherine is quoted as saying, “I am thankful that CHS took good care of me and my sister when we were in the shelter and helped us to get adopted to a new family. :)” Catherine’s sister, Cheyenne, walked up and said, “Look, that is mom.” as she pointed at the drawing. I explained to them that I had started drawing Valerie, but I had to borrow some features from some candidates since she didn’t speak very long. Amanda walked up behind me and said, “It looks like you have some new fans.” Kids love art, and I am happy I got to meet these two outgoing and curious art patrons..
Crealde – Saturday Figure Drawing
Every Sunday there is a figure drawing class at Crealde from 10:30am to 12:30pm. I usually have other events on my plate but this Sunday I decided to get back to figure drawing. It is so nice to have a model stand still for five minutes or longer. Amber is a young petite model who had a steely focus when posing. She would stare at a spot right above everyone’s head and remain totally still. She didn’t take the most dynamic poses but I was overjoyed to be able to relax and take my time with my drawings. I filled 2 spreads in my sketch book with tiny studies before I decided to expand my view to incorporate all the artists. There were some female artists as well, they just happened to be on the opposite side of the room. Paul McNear runs the class starting with 2 minute poses then 5 minues then finishing up with 20 minute poses. Paul is the artist with the checkered shirt, I love drawing his expressive face.
Once I started this sketch I didn’t take any breaks, while others chatted away, I was adding washes and adding background details. The devil is always in the details. I loved that there was a poster on the wall that said simply, “Hope.” Every drawing begins with a bit of hope and faith. With this sketch I didn’t do any preliminary pencil work. I attacked the drawing by going straight to ink and I feel the result is bolder with more chances being taken. If I do this more often I should be able to finish my sketches on location much faster.
Truth or Dare with Pepe
Terry and I went to The Peacock Room to catch Pepe. We entered and paid the five dollar cover to Mike Maples who had on a very stylish fedora. At the bar we sat next to Devin Dominguez and Shannon Lacek who was just getting up to leave. Devin and Terry talked about the various boards they work for. Rob Ward was greeting people up and down the bar. I ordered a Corona and relaxed.
I decided not to sketch until the show started so I sat back and enjoyed the social interactions firing up all around me. We waited for quite a while since some of the guests for Pepe’s show hadn’t arrived yet. Aradhana Tiwari breezed up to the bar and ordered a cosmo. The bartender wouldn’t accept any of her credit cards so she had to go out to her car to get cash.
Terry and I were some of the first people to enter the backroom performance space. I collapsed into a beanbag chair at Terry’s feet. The set had gotten much more elaborate since I had been on the show many months ago. A gorgeous red patterned couch filled the stage along with Pepe’s giant red pump chair. Pepe’s co-star for the night was Blue Star from VarieTEASE Dance Company. Megan Boetto dressed in a tight red corset was the evenings Jello shot girl. Guests of the show were Beth Marshall and Mark Baratelli.
Mark arrived late and sober so he started sucking down jello shots one after the other. When asked by Pepe if he wanted to pick Truth (gasp from crowd) or dare. Mark picked Truth. Everyone was very disappointed. He related a story about someone who stole a show idea intending to use it as a fundraiser for a cause but then the individual pocked the money. It was a true arts community scandal. Beth Marshall was asked to pick someone from the audience to some on stage and she picked Air who had to be just about dragged up on the stage. She complained, “I have been up since 7:30 this morning, this isn’t fair.” She was offered the truth or dare challenge and she picked dare. Pepe explained, “I have a privacy screen behind this chair and I will allow you to sit behind it and then verbalize your best orgasm.” She asked, “Do you want the whole thing or just the ending?” He pulled the screen out and set it up 
in front of her. She gave a performance worthy of that deli scene in “When Harry Met Sally.” I was shocked and amazed. Directors are mighty fine actors.
Two men were pulled from the audience and one was told to do a lap dance for the other. Mark kept shouting out, “Take off the shirt!” When the shirt finally came off the crowd went wild. The two men were then given a slip Jim meet stick and told to chew from either end until their lips met in the middle. his was another hilarious moment. At the same time Beth and Blue Star were doing something involving a banana on the other end of the couch. A woman at the back of the room started to dance to the song, “Put a ring on it.” She shouted out that her name was Snipples. Megan started doing the dance on stage with plenty of hip action. When jello shots were thrown out to the crowd again, Pepe offed a toast, saying, “To the arts community in Orlando, may it thrive!” I raised my shot high in the air and sucked it down by shoving my tongue all around the rim dislodging the tasty jiggling mass.
Drano Royal Flush
I got a text message from Mark Baratelli from TheDailyCity.com letting me know about an event happening at the new Amway Center that was too good to pass up. He informed me that Mayor Buddy Dyer and City officials would be in the new arena which is still under construction, to test the building’s toilet facilities. All of the bathrooms were going to be manned so that 443 toilets would flush at the exact same moment.
Parking near the new arena is impossible at best right now. I parked about five blocks away under an I-4 overpass and stuffed the meter full of quarters. When I got to the site, makeshift fences still surrounded the building. I approached what I call the masthead corner of the building. As I walked towards the doors, a security guard ran up behind me to stop me from entering the construction site. I explained about the event and yet he had no idea what I was talking about. Luckily for me, City Commissioner Patty Sheehan also approached the building at the same time. He had no idea who she was and insisted we both get back off the site. I used my cell to call Mark and he told me the entrance might be on the other side of the building near the parking garage, and he ultimately found out the 5th floor walkway was the only way to enter the event. Patty and I walked that way. I told Patty I had seen her once before at an event called “Wheels for Kids” where 95 bikes were given away to needy children. She perked up and remembered me immediately. It took a few more phone calls and some waiting before we finally made our way to the event site in the new arena.
When I entered the arena, four Magic dancers were standing at the doorway and greeted me saying, “Hello Thomas.” As I was walked further I thought, “Wait – how did they know my name?” Then, I saw Mark with a construction helmet and bright yellow vest on. He had put the dancers up to the personal greeting. I got my own helmet and vest and then Mark and I walked towards a huge crowd of vested people. There was a red carpet and velvet ropes. We heard the laughter of children. A woman told us to walk down the red carpet. There were plenty of TV cameras.
Then I noticed Dwight Howard who was heads taller than any cameraman. As he was interviewed the cameramen closed in around him. I started sketching frantically. People were in constant motion and I knew I also had to get a sketch inside a bathroom. Groups of children from Nap Ford Community School were on hand and were each assigned a number which corresponded to a team leader. When it was time, the team leaders escorted the children and reporters to the various bathroom scattered throughout the building. Mark and I simply stayed at the bathroom nearest the staging area.
Once inside the bathroom, the team members kept posing for pictures. Then over the public address system, Dwight Howard said, “Everyone man your stations. The Royal Flush shall begin in 10, 9, …” The flushing began with Swiss accuracy. People ran from stall to stall, flushing in each. A woman barged in on Mark’s stall and shouted out, “Oh my! Excuse me!” The flushing continued for the next ten minutes. I imagined man hole covers being blown sky high all over the city. Then, all at once, it was over. The announcer suggested snacks out in the staging area and the bathroom immediately cleared. I remained behind adding watercolor washes to my sketch. I suddenly realized I was missing a rag and so I took the free tee shirt I had been given and used it instead. When the sketch was just about complete, a woman walked in and asked, “Can I wash my hands?” I, of course, said “Yes.” As she washed her hands, I asked, “Do you know if this is a men’s room or a women’s room?” She pointed out that there were no wall urinals and I realized I was doing my very first drawing in the new arena in the women’s bathroom.
Out in the hall I returned to the first sketch I had started, and worked on it some more. As I sketched, Buddy Dyer walked up to me and asked if I was one of the 25 artists who would have work in the arena. I said no, but let him know about my blog and gave him a card. After the event was over, I walked back to my truck only to find it had a bright green parking ticket envelope on the windshield. I had banked on it only taking two hours to flush some toilets. My enthusiasm for sketching events downtown was shattered.
Jambando
The Plaza Theater (425 North Bumby Avenue) held a Woodstock revival. Terry had scored some free tickets at a previous event. When we arrived I saw speed painter Tony Corbitt with his black and white paintings set up outside. After getting our armbands, we shoved through the glass doors and entered the inner throng of people who were pressed inside the lobby of the theater. Dina Peterson was getting a flower painted on her face. We wandered the room seeing each of the vendors set up inside and I finally decided I should sketch the band Das Vodoo that was playing Credence Clearwater Revival music on the lobby stage. I pulled out my small three legged stool and sat down to sketch, only to have the chair rip and collapse. A spectator said the chair was a good idea if it hadn’t busted. I dragged my but off the floor and marched over to a trash can and thrust the chairs parts in. I was annoyed.
The trash can was next to the bar area and I soon realized this was the most active bustling area in the theater. There was an empty bar stool, and I sat down. I was right next to the cash register and I figured as I sketched that people might just figure I was a manager taking notes. The wine and beer orders cam in a a constant and breakneck rate. The staff members were in constant motion but I found they repeated positions rather often. I have no idea why there was a brass fish sculpture near the register.
With the sketch finished I joined Terry inside to see Janis Joplin, as performed by Kaleigh Baker and the Downgetters. She was amazing. She took deep swigs from the booze being passed around on stage and her voice cut like a knife. She shouted out that we shouldn’t take the pink acid. The crowd half of which were standing in front of the stage, went wild.
Crosby Stills & Nash was performing in the next room. I was kind of distracted since a young couple was making out hot and heavy the whole time right in front of me. I really should have sketched them, they never would have noticed. Sigh.
Puzzle
Brian Feldman informed me about this sculpture titled “Puzzle” which is located in the Orlando Cultural Park on Princeton Street right across from the Science Center at the corner of Alden Road. I had no idea this even was a park. It looks like a vacant lot. It used to be covered with greenhouses. The installation was put in place by artist Chris Scala on August 18th and will be up until September 18th. If you drive past this location daily you will be surprised to find these bright yellow lightweight pieces change position every day. I e-mailed Chris and he told me to stop by that evening at 6pm when he would be moving the pieces again. As the sun sets, it paints the whole field a bright warm yellow and the long shadows grow more dramatic.
I arrived a bit early and walked around for a while before finding a shady spot which offered a good view of the sculpture. As I sketched, I noticed a MINI Cooper drive up and park on the road behind the sculpture. I added the car to the sketch noticing two men as they removed tools out of the back trunk. They approached the largest puzzle piece and knelt down using a power tool to remove stakes which held the light sculpture in place much like a tent. After they finished moving this piece, Chris walked up to me and introduced himself. He pointed out that over the course of the month, the pieces of this “puzzle” will move closer together and join, becoming first three then one large unit.
Chris went on to explain that a group of skate rats have been vandalizing the sculpture ever since it was installed. They would spray paint obscene messages and punch holes in the sculptures until he felt he had to remove the damaged pieces. When I asked him about the graffiti which claimed that the artwork was our tax dollars at work, he explained that there have been huge budget cuts in the city’s Public Art department. It took him eight months of hard work to get this installation approved. Paul Wenzel, the Public Art Coordinator for the city of 0rlando was instrumental in guiding him through all the never ending paper work. While the city is sponsoring the project, allowing him to use the park, he is not being paid anything for all the ongoing work he is putting into the piece. Chris goes on to explain that this sculpture is just a study for a larger permanent piece he wants to make with wire forms. He likes how the wire forms allow a viewer to look past the surface of the sculpture seeing the inside form as well as the overall structure.
As we were talking two kids on bikes shouted out, “Why are they moving that way again?!” Chris pointed out that they were probably two of the kids vandalizing the project. They circled all the way around the block watching the artist’s progress. Suddenly I felt I was in a war zone. Chris and Lance Parker, who is helping him with the project, moved the pieces further west closer to the street lights. Chis thinks by moving the pieces into the light it might slow the destruction and vandalism the artwork is being subjected to. On one sculptural piece a capital A in a circle is crudely sprayed. Lance explained that this is a symbol for anarchists. Even anarchists have to conform to a certain code. I get the feeling that as soon as I leave this site, and the sun is set, the spray cans will come back out and the mindless destruction will continue. I wonder why there isn’t more public art in Orlando?
The Way of the Cards
There was a staged reading of a new play by Aradhana Tiwari in the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, in the Goldman. The stage set consisted of a simple card table and a small smack table behind it with cereals and an assortment of snacks. The play has a fascinating premise being built around the idea that poker terms also apply to the dram unfolding in a rather dysfunctional family. The mother of the family named Sass Arlington was once “The First Lady of the Vegas Strip” but over time she became a tired hack player on a riverboat. Each scene is first narrated by Tip, the oldest son of the family and thus the man of the house. The scenes are built around the Blind, the flop
, the turn, the river and the showdown. Tip is the most stoic of the family members. He is seen most times munching on a bowl of cereal sullenly ignoring the drama that unfolds. His sister Tally tried to fill the shoes of a nagging mother but few of her commands are ever heeded. The youngest sibling is Lucky who is innocent in many ways but has just started to learn to cheat at poker.
The play takes several dark and unexpected turns as the family struggles to stay afloat. Sketching was a real challenge since the house lights were almost always off and I didn’t have a book light since it was being used for a show I would be putting on in the Shakes. Since I only got a half decent sketch, I decided to go to an Irish bar where Texas Hold ‘um is played every week. I figured life must surely imitate art in this case.
Aradhana’s play was very well written with imperfect characters that had life and breath. Sass at the end of the play is put to the test after she leaves the family to win big in Vegas. Although she might have won cash, she lost so much when she returned. Often a player will reach a point where they know they are going to loose and yet they can not help but keep betting. This was the case with her. She knew she had so much to loose because she was concerned about her family’s welfare but she couldn’t stop betting which meant she wasn’t home to keep the family on a steady track. The play is tragic on many levels. You can catch the last FREE performance of this amazing play tonight at the Shakespeare Theater (810 East Rollins Street) at 8:00PM. I intend to watch it a second time with a new cast to appreciate the play’s nuances even more.
Suzi Fox Fashion Show
I went to The Peacock Room (1321 North Mills Avenue) because I got a tip that there was going to be a fashion show. There was a $5 cover at the door and for once I decided to splurge. I almost immediately bumped into George Wallace who seemed to know what was going on. He walked me over to a pool table covered with shiny and colorful underwear. Everything looked like it was made of satin but he went on to explain that this was a new material developed by Suzi Fox. He pointed out some men’s running shorts and for a moment I was interested since I have been running in the mornings for the past few months. The running shorts were however so tight that they left nothing to the imagination. I didn’t want to look like a zealous British tourist running through my neighborhood. There was a group of women dressed in this Liquid Vinyl Clothing and they were posing for a photo while sitting on the edge of the pool table. Of course I wanted to get a sketch of this group but they were clustered in the corner and I figured that after the photo was taken they would wander off. George told me there was going to be some staged readings on the back room stage so I decided to bide my time and wait.
Michael Pierre, a local comic, got up on the small sage and introduced each performer.
Rachel Kapitan got behind the mic dressed in a provocative skin tight outfit. She started to read a poem that got hotter and racier with each stanza. I suddenly realized this wasn’t going to be the usual night of open mic poetry. She thrust her hips from side to side delicately stroking her belly as she read. The poem built to its climactic conclusion. I was glad I was sketching since it kept me a touch distracted.
Next on stage was Keri Sardone. She was dressed in a skin tight liquid blue dress and she read an account of a woman executive who got what she wanted from the young male stud in the office. Herow voice was silky and smooth – just like the clothing being modeled. According to Michael most of these accounts had been written that night at the bar with only a brief rehearsal prior to the reading on stage. He read a descriptive account and the whole time a woman dressed in a skin tight gold dress stood behind him. As he read about her exploits she clenched her fists and subtly spread her legs at just the right moments. It was a delicate use of implied erotica. As each woman read, videographer Myk Freitag, circled them recording every juicy moment.
I wasn’t too shocked by the show, because when I lived in New York City I had a gay friend who wrote all the pornographic letters to Oui Magazine. He would write one letter from a man’s perspective and then write the next letter from a woman’s view. He had a real knack for writing the hot woman’s letters. I had arrived expecting a typical fashion show but I got so much more!
Adventures with Hal
When I put out a call on Facebook to see if anyone wanted me to sketch them doing what they love in life, Hal Studholme was one of the few who responded. We scheduled a day to meet about a month out. Hal gave me his phone number and suggested we meet at a Cuban Sandwich shop on Lee Road. He said his studio was right near by. When I got to the Cuban Sandwich Shop I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich which was the cheapest item on the menu. When I went to pay I suddenly realized I didn’t have enough money in my wallet to pay for a drink as well. I tried to pay with a card but the woman explained that they only take cash. I asked her to subtract the soda from my order and gave her the last three bills in my wallet. The outdoor tables were full of customers. I had never met Hal so I had no idea what he looked like. His Facebook picture was of a cast of actors on a stage. I asked a man if he was Hal and he laughed and said no. I finally called and Hal said he was on his way.
When Hal arrived he ordered a sandwich and we started to talk. He had on a bright Hawaiian shirt and purple tinted glasses. He went on to explain that he had studied Asian Philosophy and comparative religion for years. He found that the students that seemed to understand him the most however were the visual artists. He decided to change course and study art instead. He came to Orlando because he won a full scholarship to go to UCF. However a new state law required that he be a state resident in order to get the scholarship money. Since he couldn’t afford to pay, he decided to wait a year at which point he would be a state resident. The second time he applied, the funds for the scholarship were gone.
I told him that I knew little about his art and he said he wanted to show me something. He went to his convertible and pulled out a brightly colored child’s travel case. He unzipped it and pulled open the front flap. It was like he was opening a treasure chest. I was thrilled at what I saw. Inside were thousands of post cards with collage elements and rough drawings all over them. He had a show of these cards in NYC. He explained that he is still making them and each is intended for an audience of one. As an odd twist he said many were mailed to a dog in NYC. Seeing these fractured and chaotic images, I suddenly realized that the pattern on his Hawaiian shirt made perfect sense. He said he had become a bit of a cliche, a middle aged man with a convertible and six Hawaiian shirts.
He invited me to his studio but warned me that I might be shocked by by the chaos. I knew I was in for a treat. He explained that the walls of his apartment were all bare. He finds the blank walls liberating. He opened the door to his studio and everywhere I looked there were scraps of paper. His work space consisted of his sitting on foam puzzle pieces with a pillow stuffed in the small of his back. All around him were scraps of photos and images that he would rip and cut before pasting them to a post card. He opened a book and ripped off an image of thousands of flamingos. During the course of my sketch he seemed to finish quite a few cards which he then threw into a cardboard box. He explained that they were not finished, but would later resurface to be worked on again.
Hal has a number of photos of squirrels. He gets these shots with a toy cameras while lying on his stomach and waiting for the squirrel to approach. He showed me a book about an artist named Jenny Read who was a young artist who wore her heart on her sleeve. She was murdered since her studio was in a bad neighborhood. Her friends and family then assembled this book of drawings and letters she had written. I desperately want to get a copy of this book. It was a thrill to sketch this artist who is obviously obsessed about making art. In Hal’s bathroom I found the following quote from Henri Cartier Bresson, “I am a visual man. I watch, watch, watch. I understand things through my eyes.” In the mail I got a postcard from Hal which demonstrates the uniqueness of his vision.
Adult Puppet Slam
Pinocchio’s Marionette Theater in the Altamonte Mall (451 Altamonte Dr., Altamonte Springs) hosted a single evening performance of an Adult Puppet Slam. When Terry and I arrived there was a line to get in. Jeremy Seghers arrived right after us and we all joked about how we keep bumping into each other at events. When the crowd filed in the place filled to the point where there was standing room only. At first I sat on one of the small child sized benches but then decided to use my portable chair and sit against a wall so I could sketch puppets and some of the audience. Sean Keohane, the Executive Director of Pinocchio’s, introduced the evening.
A Punch and Judy style show started off the festivities and had the audience laughing. Hannah Miller did a performance of “The Gift of the Magi.” I had sketched Hannah as she built set pieces for this show. The marionettes that she built from scratch are absolutely magical, brightly colored and sparkle with sequins. An actual alligator head is used for one character. Hannah’s boyfriend, Jack Fields had his own show as well called “The Loaf That No One Cried For.” This rather hilarious performance also featured Brian Feldman as a humanoid who is concerned for the well being of a giant puppet that he drags on stage. A gourd shaped puppet that pops up from a bright patchwork quilt offers advice and orders Feldman around. When Brian climbed into the audience, he stopped next to Sultana Ali and stuffed his mouth with bread. The audience couldn’t stop laughing during this performance.
After the Slam was over a number of us lingered. Brian and Hannah disappeared into Pinocchio’s Playland in order to look over some rather legal looking documents. They were married in February as a demonstration that a straight couple, who don’t even know each other, can get married while gay and lesbian couples who are in love and have lived together for years are denied the right to marry. As Brian and Hannah talked behind closed doors, rumors circulated about a possible annulment. The rumors remain just that, since the couple did not confirm or deny anything.